Messages - waffle

How do concentrations (or even minors) figure into employment for patent law? For example, let's say I wanted to have a field of study in biophysics, but the major isn't there (or I don't want to do the major). If decided to major in biochemistry and molecular biology at a college like Wesleyan and pursue their program with certification in molecular biophysics, would that stand out for employment? Are you allowed to make your academic expertise shine on your own unique level, or are you defined by your major (example - you major in physics but concentrate your studies in biophysics. would an employer simply look at you as a physics major or would they see that biophysics is what your real interest is?)? One thing that I'd be nervous about is if they really only looked at your major even if you did biophysics studies. For example, in doing biophysics studies/concentrations, I'd probably be interested in employment dealing with drugs, medicine, proteins, etc., yet if they only looked at me as a physics major, could I get stuck with a job without any biology aspects? Yes, I know that it was stated that fine points/details between majors doesn't matter, but that's for biochemistry and biophysics, which I think have a little more in common than just biophysics and physics, since the former is more interdisciplinary.

Thank you for all of the advice so far. I have talked with a patent lawyer and it only intrigues me more, and I also read a sample patent.

When trying to get employment as a patent lawyer, does prestige of your law school matter as much as for other fields of law and will your income usually be greater? I have been researching patent law for awhile, so don't think that I'm only in it for the money (I only realized how much patent lawyers supposedly make today, but my main goal for looking at this field is combining law and science). I read in a book that most fields of law pay relatively the same and that the only real differences are usually your firm size, prestige of school, etc. It said that the exception is patent/intellectual property law mainly because these lawyers are required to have certain undergraduate majors and must take another bar exam, putting them in higher demand. Because of this, does the prestige of your law school matter as much for patent law as for other fields of law (don't get me wrong - I will aim as high as I can and am still way far off from law school) because of different requirements and more demand?

In the long run, is it a disadvantage for you to complete a major outside of "category A: having a bachelor's degree in a recognized technical subject" merely because it's simply more tedious for you to be able to sit for the exam (I'm not talking about not majoring in a science, but I am talking about the option of going to a school with either biophysics as a major or a school without a biology major in name - e.g. Cornell, which has "biological sciences' with concentrations such as biochemistry) or because it can harm you for employment opportunities?

If I were to go into patent law I would want to do things with drugs, proteins, etc. I would assume most would say biochemistry/molecular biology are the best majors for this, yet I know that biophysics is on the rise even though it is offered at few schools and not on the recognized subjects for the patent bar. I enjoy physics very much so, but would biophysics (or even biochemistry with a concentration in physics or vice versa) be advantageous in this field. Would it be better since, from what I hear at least, the biotechnology movement is becoming more and more associated with biophysics than biochemistry? Could majoring in something like biophysics (or doing something interdisciplinary with biochemistry and physics) hurt in the long run since it's harder leading to a possible lower GPA? Would employers (at least from what I hear) rather employ someone who majored in something they "know" about rather than something new and specialized?

Sorry for the long post, but answers would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!